Chapter 015 Chapter 15
It was almost eleven o'clock when Xia Meng returned home.
As soon as I entered the door, the stoat ran out spontaneously and jumped around everywhere.
It trotted across every inch of the living room as if it was patrolling its territory.
Wander around the desk, climb up the bookshelf, and take a look at every corner.
Xia Meng changed into her daily clothes and came out after washing up. The little guy was rolling around on the sofa with his tail in his arms.
She walked over and squatted in front of the sofa.
I haven't really observed this little thing yet.
Judging from the species, it should be a stoat.
She has a lively personality, blinking her big eyes, and looks curious about everything.
Seeing Xia Meng coming over, it stopped, turned over, straightened its upper body, and looked back at her seriously.
A round head, a round face, a pink nose tip, and pink ears.
She looks like a harmless naive person.
Xia Meng couldn't help but mutter to herself: "...like me?"
Then she remembered the scenes of it chasing Lao Wang's Phoenix chicken and making it scream.
She and Lao Wang have a love-hate relationship, and her spirit body is no less so.
Xia Meng nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, it's up to me."
Thinking of this, she carefully stretched out her finger, slowly moved it in front of the ferret, and touched its cheek.
The last time I touched it, I got bitten. Luckily, this time it was very considerate. Not only did it not move, it also seemed to be very comfortable and closed its eyes, making a vague snoring sound from its mouth.
Xia Meng then became bolder and directly touched its head with the palm of her hand, then stroked it backwards.
It leaned onto the sofa and stretched its body with its belly facing upwards.
Xia Meng couldn't help laughing.
"Let me give you a name." She murmured to herself.
It is said that when you raise a small animal, you have to give it a name so that you can truly keep it by your side.
Xia Meng thought for a moment, "You're so dog-like, and your master said you look like Erha. How about you just call yourself Ergou?"
The little ferret's stretched body stiffened.
It seemed to have some objection to the name. It raised its leg angrily and kicked Xia Meng's finger that was touching its belly far away.
Xia Meng smiled even more happily.
"Good night, Ergou." She patted its head.
…
A good night's sleep replenished my energy from being forced to work overtime late at night in the previous two days.
The next morning, Xia Meng woke up feeling refreshed.
Ergou had sneaked into the bedroom at some point and was sitting on her bed looking out the window.
It was past seven o'clock and it was already bright outside the window.
The weather is very good today. Early in the morning, the sky outside is already clear and blue.
Xia Meng's mood also became cheerful.
"Okay, get up! Go to work!"
The way to work is pretty much the same as the way to school.
The only difference is that the subway to the Black Tower goes in the opposite direction and only takes two stops.
The distance is unbelievably close.
Before yesterday, Xia Meng didn't even dare to think about finding a suitable job so close to home.
Eight twenty.
Xia Meng has arrived in front of the Black Tower Building.
She stood at the outer door and looked up.
The azure sky is reflected on the glass exterior of the black tower. In a trance, the black tower seems to have merged with the sky.
Xia Meng was a little confused. No wonder she couldn't see the black tower from her home.
It is probably because the black tower's exterior glass is made of some special material that can absorb and reflect the surrounding light to the greatest extent.
From a distance, it looks like it is invisible.
Xia Meng withdrew her gaze and walked into the black tower.
It was rush hour, and staff from various departments of the Black Tower were coming and going.
There are slight differences in the uniforms of different departments.
Xia Meng had just arrived and could not be identified with the naked eye for the time being.
Xia Meng contacted Zhou Qi and Director Bai in advance yesterday. According to their intention, she should go to the guide center to start work first.
In the future, her work scope will probably be to coordinate between the Guidance Center and the Criminal Investigation Center.
Of course, even if you have to take on multiple roles, the workload won't be too heavy.
Government agencies like the Black Tower are still very humane in this regard.
The Guide Center, also known as the Medical Center, is located on the 8th and 9th floors.
The Guidance Center is divided into many departments, which is similar to the department structure of ordinary hospitals, except that it has an additional "Guidance and Purification Department" compared to other hospitals.
The 9th floor is responsible for receiving sentinels, and its main job is to provide regular medical services to the sentries.
The 8th floor faces the guide. When Xia Meng woke up from her coma, she was sent directly here by them.
Xia Meng went directly to the 8th floor.
Walking to the front desk, he smiled at the staff sitting inside and said, "Hello, I'm Xia Meng, here to report today."
A man and a woman were sitting at the front desk. Upon hearing this, the man quickly stood up and smiled at her, "Hello, Director Bai told me to take you to familiarize yourself with the environment today. By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Ou Xu."
The boy who stood up looked about the same age as Xia Meng. He seemed to have just left school two years ago and looked very childish.
He has a baby face, round eyes and fair skin, and looks like an approachable boy next door.
It seems that Director Bai is considerate enough to find someone of similar age to take care of her and speak to her in a more relaxed and casual manner.
Xia Meng smiled and shook hands with him quickly.
Ou Xu gestured towards her: "Follow me, I'll take you around first."
Xia Meng nodded: "Okay, thank you."
Ou Xu walked with her and started to introduce himself.
Just as Xia Meng's first impression of him, Ou Xu had indeed just left school.
"I just graduated last year, and I've been in the Black Tower for less than half a year."
Ou Xu awakened very early, at the age of 15.
After graduating from high school, he was directly recruited into a specialized college for guide training. After graduation, he went directly to the Black Tower's Guide Center, the Purification Department.
Therefore, although he was about the same age as Xia Meng, his experience and knowledge as a guide was hundreds or thousands of times richer than hers.
Xia Meng stood in awe: "Looks like I have to call you senior!"
Ou Xu waved his hand and smiled shyly, "I don't deserve to be called a senior. I heard about you rushing to the courtroom alone yesterday. It was so impressive that you dared to stand up and overturn Fan Xue's verdict by yourself."
Xia Meng smiled: "Who said I was alone?"
Ou Xu said, "Ah," "Isn't it?"
Xia Meng nodded: "No, there are many people helping me."
How could she accomplish some things alone?
Without Zhou Qi, overturning the verdict would not have been so smooth.
Without Li Zhou, the court would not immediately accept her testimony, and might even have to drag her away for a mental evaluation and brain examination.
Without Wang Xiangyi, the subsequent evidence collection would not have progressed so quickly.
If I have to say, she was just lucky and a little bold.
Xia Meng didn't explain much and continued to walk forward slowly with Ou Xu.
Although the guide center only has two floors, it is very spacious inside.
It takes at least half an hour to go around once.
Half of the 8th floor is the inpatient area, and the other half is the outpatient department and staff office area.
The office area also has partitions such as rest area, information area, and meeting area.
Ou Xu took Xia Meng to the job registration and received her guide center nameplate and work uniform.
The uniforms at the Guide Center are white, similar to the white coats in hospitals, but more formal and straight, and even have epaulettes on the shoulders.
There are four simple lines written on the nameplate.
Name: Xia Meng
Rank: Physician
Department: Psychiatry
Level: B-level wizard
The rank of doctors in the guide center is different from that in ordinary hospitals. Everyone is called a doctor, and there is no distinction between high and low levels.
The only distinction is the department and level, but regardless of department or level, everyone is treated equally.
In other words, there is no pressure to get promoted in the workplace.
Just complete the work on time and with quality.
Moreover, the guide center is not busy on weekdays. If there are sentries seeking purification, they will be guided; if there are patients, they will be treated. If there is no one, they can move around freely, drink tea and read newspapers, or even go to the rest area to play mahjong in groups.
The work atmosphere is relaxed and the year-end bonus is generous.
Xia Meng raised her head hopefully.
It seems that the working environment in Black Tower is quite healthy, unlike other places where things get tough right from the start.
Dream love class!
Ou Xu took her around the entire guide center.
The specific location of each department, including the inpatient department, information room, etc., was introduced.
"Where is that place?"
When they were almost done with the tour, Xia Meng suddenly raised her hand and pointed to the end of a white wall somewhere on the 9th floor, where there was a big door.
The distance was a bit far, and she couldn't see clearly what was written on the doorplate.
She estimated the structure of the entire guide center and felt that there was probably a large space inside the door.
Ou Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "There..."
Xia Meng: "Why? It's not convenient to say?"
Ou Xu shook his head: "That's not the case. That's an isolated area."
Xia Meng: "Isolation area? Isolation or something?"
Ou Xu was obviously a little secretive and for a moment he didn't know whether he should tell Xia Meng about this.
Go ahead and tell me. Since she works here, she will know sooner or later.
Ou Xu then told everything.
"That isolation area was originally a regular ward, used for the inpatient stay of sentinels. However, recently, a strange disease has emerged that has become contagious, so Director Bai has had all sentinels showing signs of infection transferred there. They are being cared for by dedicated personnel at regular times and locations."
Xia Meng was puzzled: "Strange disease? What kind of strange disease?"
It can’t be some highly contagious disease, right?
"It's not really an infectious disease..." Ou Xu, not knowing how to describe it, touched the back of his neck and said, "No one knows what's going on right now. A month ago, a sentry was brought in, unconscious. The colleague who treated him had just come into contact with that person and then fell into a coma. No one knew what was going on at the time, but then, one after another, several colleagues in our center fell into a coma. Upon investigation, we found that they had all come into contact with that sentry."
Coma without any warning?
Xia Meng: "Can't find the reason at all?"
Ou Xu shook his head. "There's absolutely no evidence. And there are quite a few cases like this. In the past month, several sentries have been sent in one after another and all of them are like this. Any guide who comes into contact with them, even if there is no physical contact and even if they take full protective measures, will quickly be infected and fall into a coma. At least a dozen colleagues in our guide center have been infected and are in a coma."
Ou Xu: "Director Bai had no other choice but to isolate the sentries and recruit some ordinary people to serve as caregivers, who took turns to look after them in the quarantine area."
Ou Xu lowered his voice and said, "And I heard that this isn't just happening at the Beijing Tower. Several black towers across China seem to have recently appeared. Director Bai is holding meetings every day about this."
Beijing Tower is the nickname given to this black tower by those who work here.
Located in Beijing, the black tower in Beijing is called Beijing Tower.
There are seven or eight black towers all over the country, and most people like to name them after places.
Xia Meng understood.
No wonder, no wonder Zhou Qi would rather go to great lengths to kidnap Lao Wang than ask the people at the guide center for help.
It turned out that it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that there was really no one at the guide center.
Seeing Xia Meng's silence, Ou Xu thought she was frightened, so he quickly changed the subject and comforted her, "Don't worry, as long as you don't go to the quarantine area, you won't be affected. Besides, you just awakened not long ago, I will take you to do some special training in counseling first."
Xia Meng is a psychiatrist, but as a guide, counseling is a compulsory course for guides.
So, you have to learn what you should learn.
Ou Xu took her to the training room. Halfway there, his work phone suddenly rang.
He picked up the phone, listened for two seconds, and then quickly said, "Okay, I'll be there right away."
After hanging up the phone, Xia Meng was about to say, "You go ahead and do your thing. I can find something to do myself."
Then, Ou Xu asked, "The Purification Department has received a sentry who needs to be evacuated. Do you want to come with me?"
For Xia Meng, it is far more efficient to observe on-site rather than study books and read materials mechanically.
Xia Meng obviously thought so too and nodded without hesitation.
…
The two went directly to the purification department.
The sentry's information had been sent to Ou Xu's mobile phone in advance.
Therefore, before the two men arrived, they already had some understanding of the sentry who was about to be counseled.
The man's name is Huo Qingyu, 33 years old, a Class B sentry.
He is a well-known musical actor and the mainstay of the recently popular Aurora Theater.
Even Xia Meng had heard of his name.
It is said that the shows he performed in were so popular that tickets were hard to come by.
I didn't expect that he was also a sentry.
Like Wang Xiangyi, he did not choose to enter the Black Tower.
Instead, he chose the path of a musical actor without hesitation.
The sentries and guides looked no different from ordinary people.
Therefore, they are not particularly distinguished in society.
The identity of a sentry is sometimes more like a fashion item. People will be curious and envious, but that's all.
Of course, it is not ruled out that some people are hostile to the Sentinels and think that they are not of the same kind, but this is only a small part.
The counseling process is actually very simple, and is not much different from going to the hospital for treatment.
Unlike other departments, people who come for treatment are called patients.
The Purification Department calls them customers and guests.
Because counseling for sentinels is just a very daily and ordinary health care item.
Just like some women go to beauty salons regularly for maintenance.
The decontamination department will provide a separate small room for the sentries and guides responsible for evacuation.
It's roughly the same as an ordinary outpatient room.
The room is equipped with a set of tables and chairs placed facing each other, as well as a treatment bed for lying flat.
Ou Xu knocked on the door with his work tablet. After entering, he smiled politely at the person waiting inside. "Hello, Mr. Huo, I'm your guide today. My last name is Ou."
Xia Meng followed Ou Xu into the room and saw Huo Qingyu nodding at Ou Xu: "Hello."
Huo Qingyu's gentle gaze then fell on Xia Meng.
Ou Xu introduced her, "This is a new colleague. She's here with me as an intern in the purification department today. If you don't mind, Mr. Huo, she'll be here observing and learning from the whole process."
Xia Meng nodded and said, "Hello, my name is Xia Meng."
Huo Qingyu did not answer immediately.
His eyes scanned her face before landing on the nameplate she had pinned to her chest.
His gaze paused on the nameplate for a few seconds before he finally nodded: "I don't mind, please sit down."
His tone sounded intimidating, like someone in a higher position.
It seemed as if he was the one in charge of this counseling room, not Ou Xu.
Ou Xu walked over and sat down opposite Huo Qingyu.
Xia Meng moved a chair from the side and sat behind Ou Xu.
Xia Meng took out her notebook.
This is a habit I developed when I was studying with Wang Xiangyi.
This was not the first time that Ou Xu had counseled Huo Qingyu, so many necessary preliminary procedures were omitted, such as testing the degree of mental power matching.
Ou Xu himself is an A-level guide, and is more than qualified to guide Huo Qingyu, a B-level sentry.
So after a brief routine exchange, Ou Xu directly gestured to Huo Qingyu to put his hand on the table with his palm facing up, and then reached out and held his hand.
Xia Meng noticed that after the two men clasped their hands, a faint light of light blue began to flow on their arms.
Like a small stream, it flows gently from Ou Xu to Huo Qingyu.
Xia Meng sat beside Ou Xu and watched them quietly.
Mainly observing Huo Qingyu.
She had seen him on social media before, to be exact, clips of his interviews and performances.
On the stage, he is charming and energetic, like a ball of warm fire.
No matter where he stands, he is the focus of everyone's attention.
He was the same in the interview. Although not as excited as on stage, his every frown and smile seemed to be filled with light.
It's so eye-catching.
Indeed, Huo Qingyu has a very beautiful face with deep features and is very recognizable.
But the reason why he is so charming is not only because of his face, but also because of the special aura he carries, which attracts countless creatures that are attracted to the light.
At this moment, Xia Meng looked at him closely with her own eyes, but felt that these characteristics seemed to have disappeared from him.
The fire went out and the light faded.
All that remained was a small pool of warm water.
Xia Meng didn't find it too strange.
Maybe Huo Qingyu himself is a dramatic personality?
Dramatic personality, also known as histrionic personality.
It refers to a personality type that likes to show its confident and extroverted side in public social situations and has a strong desire and characteristics to perform.
Commonly known as the crowd frenzy, the more people there are, the more exciting it is.
But in private, it's the complete opposite, as if it has entered a low-power state.
He looks a little depressed and doesn't like to talk.
She lowered her head and opened her notebook.
He turned over the pages about Fan Xue, started a new page, and wrote down Huo Qingyu's name.
Her pen tip paused on the paper. She was originally planning to write "suspected histrionic personality", but she thought about it and remembered that Wang Xiangyi had repeatedly warned her not to let her intuition take precedence over professional diagnosis.
So she put down her pen and raised her head.
Just as she was about to continue observing, she was shocked to find that Huo Qingyu and Ou Xu had both fallen down at some point.
Their hands were still clasped, but Ou Xu had already fallen on the table, and Huo Qingyu was leaning sideways on the chair, both unconscious.
Xia Meng was stunned and subconsciously thought of the strange disease that Ou Xu had mentioned before.
No way?
Not such a coincidence, right?
She suddenly reacted and immediately reached for her phone to contact Director Bai.
However, just as he took out his phone, everything in front of him went dark.
…
The familiar feeling came over me again.
Xia Meng felt as if she was wrapped in a thick fog.
It was pitch dark in front of me, and in the distance there seemed to be a vague rumbling sound, as if carrying some kind of cheerful rhythm.
Her eyelashes trembled and her eyes moved back and forth vigorously under her eyelids.
It took a lot of effort to lift up my heavy eyelids.
She subconsciously took a deep breath, and the moment she opened her eyes, she found that it was indeed dark all around.
There was a light in the distance, and she subconsciously wanted to move closer, but found that her body was blocked.
When her vision finally adjusted to the surrounding darkness, she noticed that she seemed to be in a crowded amphitheater.
There is a performance on the stage. Countless dancers are dancing gracefully to the cheerful rhythm of the music.
The seats were packed with audiences.
Xia Meng was in a separate private room on the second floor of the theater, very close to the stage.
Xia Meng relaxed a little.
This time, there is no need to guess, she must have entered the spiritual picture.
And it is most likely Huo Qingyu's.
Xia Meng felt that she was already familiar with the place.
The last time she fell into the mental image, she accidentally brought Li Zhou along with her. This time, she also managed to bring Ou Xu along with her.
Xia Meng felt that he must be there, but she just didn't know where he was now.
Then, she swept her eyes across the dark audience seats.
Under the illumination of the stage lights, those faces were either as pale as paper or blurred into a mass.
No, it's too dark, I can't see clearly.
It seems I can only wait for the show to end and wait for him at the door.
Thinking of this, she turned her attention back to the stage.
Let’s first take a look at what play is being performed on the stage.
The musical seemed to be reaching its climax. Twenty or thirty actors gathered in the center of the stage, dancing to the rhythm of the music.
As her skirt fluttered, Xia Meng seemed to see Ou Xu's handsome face in a trance.
She was stunned for a moment, rubbed her eyes subconsciously, and looked again.
At this time, Ou Xu was wearing a gorgeous and complicated retro long dress, with heavy eye shadow, pale lead powder and big red lips on her face, and was dancing among the dancers on the stage.
His slightly tall stature and stiff dancing posture made him stand out among the dancers.
——This is a bit scary.
Xia Meng: “…………”
What should I do if I see a colleague being socially unlucky on my first day at work?
Waiting online! Urgent!
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